November 2007
Monthly Archive
for thanksgiving day i drove to sac from the bay area. i figured it would take a little longer than the usual 1.5 hours, but i did not realize just how bad it would really be.
i’d misremembered the email and thought dinner was going to be earlier than what it was actually scheduled for. and i’m sure we’re all familiar with how being hungry can add to the difficulties of traffic. we were creeping slowly along when i decided i needed some something if i was going to make it to my cousins’ house in one piece. i pulled off at an exit which advertised several fast food places and treated myself to a nostalgic cheeseburger and fries from a drive through. since everyone was driving to dinner and apparently afraid to ruin their appetite, it was the fastest drive through experience of my life.
still, i had to wait for the light twice, and paused to unwrap my straw. you can imagine my surprise and frustration when i got back on to the highway and noticed i was still surrounded by the same people! no kidding! there was the suv with the two bikes on the back, one a little girl’s strawberry shortcake bike with a big strawberry in the middle of the spokes. and there was the same prius with the same personalized license plate. i was really glad i’d gotten something to eat.
i arrived late at my cousins’ house to the normal noise and confusion. the turkey wasn’t cooking fast enough for the starving masses so they’d carved it up and finished the bits in the microwave. not what jo would have liked, but she also wasn’t interested in the revolt that was stirring. eight screaming children under 5 years old and their hungry parents just don’t care if it’s microwaved.
between the two brothers s and j there are 17 grandkids. this holiday saw eight of the 16 under seven years old and the one young teen girl, who is stuck in between the major age groupings of under 7 or over 30. but this year she had a little company in the in between. one of the cousins was divorced earlier in the year and brought his new girl around to meet the family. what a boisterous introduction, i felt a little badly for her. aside from this being the first time she’d met the vast majority of them, she’s also in her mid 20s — much younger than he is. i know, i know, sometimes that works but there was something about her that really said Young, with a capital Y. she seemed really sweet, though, so maybe it was just being overwhelmed by this loud family. and by loud i mean sometimes i couldn’t hear the person i was talking to.
jo and s asked my to stay over instead of trying to drive home with all the potential traffic and drunk drivers and accidents. on the way in, one of the families had seen an accident featuring a man standing out beside the cars with his hands behind his back and officers with their weapons drawn. it seemed safer to have me stay over to sleep off the tryptophan and drive home when there were less people on the road.
the whole experience was a celebration of bounty — of traffic, of family, of food, of children, of love, of conversation, of noise, of energy, of concern, of happiness.
for some reason this morning i’m remembering a commercial i shot in college. i was an ‘actor’ in the extremely low budget production for a newly developed electronic device which i never again saw or heard of. in fact, i can’t even remember what the thing was, really.
my friends and i were sitting on the steps outside one of the buildings having lunch when this two-person crew (one director, one camera guy) came up to us to ask if we’d be in their commercial. we agreed, and he gave us some lines to say. it was all about how cutting edge, cool, and easy to use their product was. he had a friend of mine talk about how helpful it was, then asked me (with my long, light hair) to say, ‘it’s so easy even i can use it!’
after he got what he wanted, my friend laughed and said how backward it seemed. the director asked what she meant and she told him that i was the technical one and was forever teaching her how to use technology better.
and this is the part i remember really well. the director got a funny look on his face, sort of pursed his lips and nodded. i remember thinking how odd it was. it doesn’t bother e and i that i am more tech inclined than she is, so what was bothering this guy? was he upset that he’d guessed wrong or did he think i’d be insulted for having to play the dumb blond? i really wonder what was going through that guy’s head just then.
whatever he was realizing then about presumptions based on looks, i hope he remembered it.
this is my view most nights going home now. it is so nice to be out on the water every morning and evening. i swear i’m mean to live on a boat and travel the world. or live on the shore and have a boat. or something to do with water and boats.
i look into the water and think how good it would feel to swim regularly again. i miss being in the water. not that i was ever a Swimmer. i was a player i would “go swimming” not “go to the pool”. i really miss the feeling of being surrounded by warm water, though. that should go on my to-do list. perhaps right above “find a steady date”. in order of probability.
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yesterday was my last day of work at the job that has been causing me so much frustration. it was a huge relief and quite anticlimactic all at the same time. a number of people i’d worked with came by to say goodbye, the ones from out of the country sent IMs and i got a nice email from a person i worked with in ore.
my manager hardly acknowledged that i was leaving; i had to go find her. that underscored that leaving was absolutely the right decision. it was all very strange.
i drove to grwster’s house where i took this photo of myself in a moment of realization regarding what i’ve just done.
grwster and i drank way way way too much in our desserts and drinks celebration. we had a great tour of downtown palo alto, i was stopped on the sidewalk by a sweet man who wished me a good evening in italian and told grwster how lucky he is. heh. it was a nice complement anyhow.
i’ve spent most of today recovering from last night. reading, lolling about, that sort of thing. the reality of not having to worry about that system anymore has been setting in, and i’m sure that’s part of the reason that every. single. person. i’ve run into today has seemed quite lovely. including the somewhat strange old men who came into the donut/sandwich shop while i was having lunch.
my heart opened to see the girl rush out from behind the counter to open the door for one of her regulars who didn’t quite have the strength to do so himself without struggle. i’m sure his cane didn’t help. she knew just what he was going to order and brought him his “usual”.
it’s a good sign, that i’m seeing this love everywhere.
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